By Jerram Watts
“Big”, “messy”, “ugly” and “dirty”.
Some choice words mumbled by spectators on the rocks at Piha beach.
It was day two of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship on Auckland’s West Coast on Friday – and conditions could not have been much worse.
The ocean was doing its best washing machine impression – and hit the nail on the head.
A nasty onshore gale didn’t help the matter either.
Peaks formed out of nowhere; when a section opened up it closed almost immediately – the youngsters were certainly pushing themselves to the limit by entering Piha’s fray.
The competition was delayed this morning due to the bad conditions – the girls’ competition abandoned for the day, simply because the surf was too gnarly.
The heats got underway just after 11am, organisers deciding to proceed, showing faith in the young athletes.
“It’s surfable,” said Ben Kennings, media manager for Surfing New Zealand. “We’ve got the best surfers in the world for their age group, and the Kiwi kids train in similar conditions to this.
“They’re getting waves out there, so it’s alright.”
And getting rides they were.
After a gruelling paddle out – a nasty, yet helpful rip took them left, and then out – the boys went to work.
From a small rocky outcrop supporters and observers could just manage to make out coloured rash-shirts through the haze of the spray and rain.
Every now and again a surfer would appear, seemingly out of nowhere, and drop down the face of a wave.
It looked effortless; slashing, cutting, snapping, pumping – the youngsters proved they know their craft.
But it was hard work.
“It was very difficult,” says French surfer Kieran Bullard.
The 17-year-old returned to the beach looking like he’d run a marathon – but was buzzing.
“There was much wind, big waves, and the waves came from everywhere. It was really hard,” he said.
The unpredictability of the waves was the biggest challenge on day two for the young surfers.
While a section may have looked good for a set – it was the impact zone or empty for the next.
“I just got one good wave at the beginning of the heat, then I just got an inside,” says Bullard. “I paddled out for 10 minutes before I could even get in the line-up.”
Conditions didn’t seem to bother young Kiwi hopeful Alex Dive, who carved up his home surf to finish second in his heat and progress to the third round.
“It was the hardest heat in the whole of the second round,” he says.
“Gabriel (2009 silver medallist from Brazil) was in that one, and a few other guys - so to get second is pretty amazing.”
Dive said the huge, unpredictable conditions made paddling out tough work.
“It was the hardest surf I’ve surfed in so long. It was just big, big close-outs,” he said.
“We just paddled out and sat there for 12 minutes getting absolutely smashed. I managed to get a few – and to get through, I just can’t believe it.”
It was quite an achievement for Dive, up against the best surfers in the world in his age group – he has managed to hold is own so far.
“Really stoked [that Dive got through],” said Mr Kennings. “He’s really good in big waves and really good on his backhands, there’s a lot of left handers out there so it helps him out a lot.
“I think he’s confident being at home, so we’re looking for big things from him.”
Despite the messy conditions and changeable weather, Mr Kennings said the vibe at the beach is positive.
“I think they’ll be taking a second look [at the surf] today, because it’s as bad as the West Coast gets – but they enjoyed it earlier on and once it improves it will be good,” he said.
“They love the place; we just need to provide some surf.”
The howling gale and rain didn’t make for a joyous atmosphere, but Piha was anything but dull on day two.
Patriotism was rife, teams from around the world flaunting surf hoodies emblazoned with nations symbols, flags pervaded the spectator zone like it was a cricket match and whistles and cheers managed to pierce the wind on occasion when a competitor nailed a wave.
Dive looks to be New Zealand’s best chance in the boys’ draw, but JC Susan is also looking sharp.
Conditions are expected to messy again Saturday morning, but improving as the day goes on, says Mr Kennings.
“We’ve got eight days of surf, and in eight days in New Zealand you are guaranteed to get a low pressure system come over. It could be dead flat but you are going to get both ends of the spectrum in that time.”
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